Monday, January 21, 2008

What to Watch During the Writers' Strike

I don't own a TV -- and I don't live in L.A. -- so it could be assumed I've barely been affected by the writers' strike. In reality, it has entirely interrupted my weekly schedule. I'm a hardcore online viewer, and now that Gossip Girl has run through the last of the new episodes, I'm feeling out-of-work Hollywood's pain. This weekend, I decided to catch up on stuff I've been meaning to take a look at -- some for the first time, some for the fortieth. (And yes, I do realize that watching The Muppets Take Manhattan at 25 is an odd move).

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Almost as good as Arrested Development, this absurd comedy about four friends and Danny Devito running a pub in Philadelphia makes me laugh. Out loud.

Maria Full of Grace. A pregnant Colombian girl decides to become a drug mule in order to make $5,000 for her family in this excellent film, which stars Catalina Sandino Moreno as Maria. Moreno is a breakout star -- her portrayal is at once naive and calculating. But she comes off, more than anything, as highly intelligent. Definitely worth Netflixing.

The Muppets Take Manhattan. I can't help it -- I love Kermie! I also love the scene with Miss Piggy and Joan Rivers working as makeup girls in Bloomingdales. Ah-mazing.

The Matrix. I know, I know, I can't believe I'd never seen it before either. I really loved it, and was looking forward to the sequels, until it was revealed to me that the sequels really sucked.

October Road. This series, about a writer who comes back to his small Massachusetts town after disappearing ten years earlier, is poorly written and lacks the sexual tension-filled story lines that nighttime soaps need to survive. Yet there's just something really likable -- an oddly real -- about the characters that makes me continue to watch. Plus, there's about five new episodes left before the well runs dry. I'm rooting for this mid-season replacement!